Bake the Book: TKO Cookies

Get the Recipe

In the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, the recipe for the much-loved TKO cookie is revealed. TKOs are Sebastien Rouxel's take on the classic chocolate sandwich cookie. Both the size and quality are on a grander scale; they measure three inches in fluted diameter, and are elegantly filled, drop by drop, with a piping bag. You can follow all these delicate steps yourself, or take a couple shortcuts. The results will be impressive either way.

Tips: The recipe dictates using a Matfer 3-inch fluted cutter and a pastry bag with a 3/16-inch plain tip, and to use Valrhona Ivoire 35% white chocolate and Guittard Cocoa Noir. All of those are beautiful, high-quality ingredients, but not all of those will be available in our kitchens. Whole Foods and similar stores carry Valrhona and Guittard products, but as for the Matfer cutter, it's difficult to find in stores and online. As Keller himself said: "When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about." If you can find a 3-inch circular or fluted cutter without having to spend $60, you'll do just fine. Smaller cutters yield more cookies, which is a good thing. And as for the pastry bag: a plastic sandwich bag works—simply cut the end at an angle.

Tweaks: As this is a simple, excellent recipe, no real tweaks are needed. Valrhona cocoa powder works as well as Guittard, and Callebaut chocolate will give a similar result. Since the components are so simple (chocolate cookies, white chocolate filling), spring for the better ingredients.